Disk-shaped cells or batteries are often used as back up protection for electronic equipment should there be a failure in the conventional power system. Typically, these disk-shaped backup cells are relatively small, having, for example, a diameter of about 0.268 inches and a thickness of about 0.083 inches. The cell has a positive electrode extending along a major surface and the edge and a negative electrode extending over the other major surface and isolated from the positive electrode. For purposes of this invention the term "battery" is to be understood to include a single cell. The battery is inserted into a connector mounted to a circuit board, the connector hereinafter being referred to as a "battery connector". It is desirable that a backup battery connector require a minimum amount of space on a circuit board within the equipment, be easy to mount to the circuit board, be readily accessible for replacing a depleted battery, and be cost effective to manufacture.
In prior art battery connectors such as the example depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2, the connector has surface mountable contacts wherein the positive contact of the connector both holds the battery in the connector housing and provides the electrical connection to the positive electrode of the cell. This connector requires two different stamped and formed contacts, one of which requires a considerably greater length of a strip of metal to stamp and generates more scrap than the other. Additionally metal having the spring characteristics required by the positive terminal of the prior art is generally more expensive than the metal used for the negative terminal. The prior art connector is made by an insert molding process in which the terminals are placed in a mold and the housing is molded around them.